Beijing Olympics 2008: Amnesty International torture ads dropped

An advertising campaign for Amnesty International combining Olympics imagery and scenes of torture has come under attack in China – even though it was never shown.

Image 1 of 3

Image 1 of 3

Image 1 of 3

By Richard Spencer in Beijing

2:49PM BST 16 Jul 2008

The series of images includes a man being pushed headfirst into a swimming pool, a policeman walking away from a man who has been shot while lashed to an archery target.

In a third, a woman is chained to a dumbbell in the colours of the Olympic rings.

The slogan reads: "After the Olympic Games, the fight for human rights must go on."

They were commissioned from the advertising firm TBWA by Amnesty's French offices. Even though the organisation decided not to use them because they were too graphic, the firm entered them for a website competition, from where they began to circulate on China's internet bulletin boards.

Some commenters called for Chinese employees of the firm to resign, while others pointed out the connection to France, which has become a prime object of nationalist outrage following disruption of the Olympic torch relay in Paris.

Related Articles

The China Society for Human Rights Studies, a government front organisation, accused Amnesty of distributing the advertisements to "smear" China and disrupt its social progress.

Other commenters pointed out the irony that TBWA had also produced advertisements aimed at the Chinese Olympics market, including a series for Adidas featuring local athletes and their fans.

TBWA say the advertisements were produced by an individual working on a "pro bono" account and would not have been approved by head office. A spokeswoman for Amnesty in France said: "We didn't feel comfortable with the proposed visuals, which were perhaps too violent.

"But the message that the fight goes on we support 200 per cent."

Amnesty has used the Olympics as an opportunity to demand improved human rights in China, but says it wants to focus on Beijing's promise to reform.